Marry Me Bill
by IncoherentMumbling
Summary: There was a limit. And she had crossed it. Maybe it had been crossed recently. Maybe she had crossed it a long time ago. It didn't matter. Lorelai Gilmore had to make a change, no matter how much it hurt. Set during S6; what SHOULD have happened. ONE-SHOT


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the desire to someday maybe find myself a Luke Danes.

**The commas went a little awry. Sorry.**

**This is currently and will probably stay a one-shot. But, if people like it and I have time, I might continue it after I'm done with the fanfic I'm working on.**

**Set season six-ish. Before the big ultimatum, though.**

* * *

**Marry Me Bill**

by I.M.

_Bill, I love you so, I always will_

_I look at you and see the passion eyes of May_

I walked towards Luke's Diner with intentions rattling around in my head. I looked up at the bright yellow coffee sign and the perpetually clean counter that had been a necessary staple for a good day for so many years. I breathed in shakily, knowing that I was about to give it all up.

_Oh, but am I ever gonna see my wedding day_

_I was on your side Bill when you were loosin'_

I put my hand on the doorknob, trying to muster the courage to open the door and face the unhappiness that had just recently become so apparent and so overwhelming for me. I suppressed the tears as I pushed open the door, and realized that I was about to give up the one person who made me happiest. _And the unhappiest_, I thought as I struggled to breath.

_I never scheme or lie Bill, there's been no foolin'_

_But kisses and love won't carry me till you marry me Bill_

I stood in the middle of the diner, waiting for Luke to turn around and see me.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked, noticing right away that something was bothering me. _He isn't going to make this easy on me… _"Lorelai? Are you okay? Lorelai! Say something!"

"I…" I breathed out. I choked on the words. He moved forward to hug me but I shook my head. "I… can't marry you."

Luke's arms dropped to his sides. "What?"

_I love you so, I always will_

_And in your voice I hear a choir of carousels_

"I love you. God, I love you so much. Tomorrow I'll probably wake up and slap myself silly for doing this. But tonight, I know this is right. I can't do this anymore. I can't wake up and go to sleep while pretending that I'm okay!"

"Lorelai…"

"I can't keep pretending that I'm happy. I was happy but I'm not anymore. You used to be a part of my life, Luke! When Rory dropped out of Yale, you _were _my life! Now everything is falling apart and you're letting it! Hell, _I'm _letting it!"

"Please, Lorelai…"

"I can't take it anymore. It's killing me and I have to do something. I think… I think it's just better if I give up now and just pray that it'll hurt less than if I let everything blow up in my face. No matter what I do, I'm going to lose you and if I let it surprise me, I can't even imagine how much it'll hurt."

Luke followed the tears running down my face with his eyes. "You don't want to marry me," he said as more of a question.

"I'm afraid of how much I want to marry you."

"I don't understand, Lorelai! You want to marry me but you won't! You say you love me but here we are, breaking up!"

"God, Luke! Don't you understand? We're never going to get married! You're off in your own world, and I'm left standing in the rain with empty promises and a pretty ring!"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I never see you!" I yelled. "I _never _see you! I come in, you give me coffee, and I leave! It's like we're not even engaged! The only time we touch is if you give me a rare goodbye kiss before I go to work at the inn for the entire day! Then I go home and I have a big, empty house staring me in the face! You either have early deliveries or you have to meet your bread guy or you're too tired from working all day! I hate coming home to a house that isn't even ours anymore! We haven't gone out on a date in weeks! We haven't made love in _months_! And I'm sick and tired of it all!"

"You're ending things because I'm busy?"

"Gah!" I yelled in frustration. "I'm ending things because I'm getting hurt and you obviously don't see it!"

"So what if I'm busier than usual? I have the diner, I have April—"

"Ah, yes! April!"

"What does that mean?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Luke! We were getting married! Do you understand? We were going to live together and be happy and have kids and be… married! I mean, you wanted it before I did! And then, April shows up and I didn't matter anymore. You cast me aside and ignored me! Yes, you had April to consider. Having a daughter is a huge responsibility, I know that. But, you completely shut me out and it hurt! I mean, here we were, going through the biggest change possible and you were just forgetting about me!"

"Lorelai," Luke said softly. "I could never forget about you."

"But you did! And then, the _best _part! I, your future _wife_, wasn't allowed to get to know your daughter! I wanted to get to know her and learn to love her, just like you were! But nooo… I couldn't get to know my future step-daughter! But it's okay because you supplied me with lots of vague, repetitive reasons! On top of you not telling me that you had a daughter in the first place, you didn't even let me get to know her! And it hurt so much, Luke! God, it felt like I wasn't a part of you anymore! You should have to figure out how April fits into our lives, not the other way around!"

Luke stared at me with his mouth open. "Lorelai, I—"

"Just please let me leave before it gets any worse, Luke. I don't think I can take it."

Luke stared at me speechlessly. That was all the answer I needed.

_Oh, but am I ever gonna hear my wedding bells_

_I was the one who came runnin' when you were lonely_

_It's over. It's over. I just ended it. I'm not seeing Luke anymore. I'm not engaged to Luke anymore. I can't kiss Luke anymore. I can't _see _Luke anymore. I can't laugh with him. Tease him. Sleep right next to him. It's over. Over, over, over._

Suddenly I felt someone grab my hands. I would know those hard, calloused yet warm and safe hands anywhere. I turned around and saw Luke panting.

As soon as he stopped breathing heavily, he said, "I'm an idiot."

I smiled. "Yeah, you are."

"I love you," he breathed.

"I love you, too," I said into his shoulder as he hugged me tight.

"I'm going to make some changes," he said into my hair.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to pick a date. And on that date, you're going to walk down the aisle towards me, looking more beautiful than I thought possible. Then, we're going to get married and we're going to have a middle."

I looked at him unbelievingly. "A middle?"

"We're going to have a home and kids with curly brown hair, perfect blue eyes, and an unhealthy caffeine addiction."

"As long as they're wearing flannel," I said, squeezing his hand.

"And I'm going to grow old with you. I'm going to die next to you like in that chick flick with the two people who lied down on the street and stared at traffic lights."

I gave him a watery smile. "The Notebook?"

"You're the most important person in my life, Lorelai. I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize that I was losing you."

"That's okay. It took me a while to figure out that I was losing _you_."

And then he kissed me. The kiss was filled with promises that I knew he was going to keep and a future that I didn't have to wait for.

_I haven't lived one day not lovin' you only_

_But kisses and love won't carry me til you marry me Bill_

He suddenly broke apart and looked down at me with a smile on his face. "Let me move all my stuff to our house."

"First thing tomorrow," I said, smiling at his enthusiasm.

"Now."

"Now? Luke, it's almost eleven."

"So?"

"So… it's three hours past your bedtime!"

"And?"

"Um… okay. What do you want to start with?"

"Who cares? Throw all my crap into boxes. We'll sort it later!"

I laughed at his newfound enthusiasm. I had old Luke back. "Hold on there. Do you even have any boxes?"

"Somewhere in the back of my clos—Lorelai, where's your ring?" he asked, staring at my left hand.

"Well," I said uncomfortably. "I took it off."

"What?" Luke exclaimed. "Why? When?"

"I took it off a couple weeks ago."

"You decided to break up with me weeks ago?" he asked incredulously.

"No, I decided to break it off with you tonight after my mother asked me when I was getting married."

"You weren't wearing your ring?" he asked blankly.

"Uh… no."

"I didn't even realize. I can't believe I didn't realize my fiancée wasn't wearing her engagement ring for two weeks!"

"Luke, it's alright. You were distracted."

Luke was pacing now. I couldn't help but smile; the Luke ranting was back. "But I shouldn't have been distracted! I should have been excited and enthusiastic! I almost lost you, Lorelai! God, how could I be so stupid?"

"Don't worry, Luke. You've seen the light."

"I can't believe I hurt you. You were just standing there going on and on about how you loved me and how you couldn't do this anymore. And I couldn't say anything. I just stood there like an idiot while you walked away. All I could think about was how you said you loved me and how all this time I thought you didn't really. Finally, it got through my thick skull that you were leaving and I caught you just in time. I don't know what I would do without you, Lorelai."

"Y-you thought I didn't love you? Luke, I asked you to marry me!"

"But you never actually told me. And then, you didn't want to set a date for the wedding and Chris suddenly showed up and…" His voice drifted off. "It's stupid. I should have known you loved me."

I shook my head and held his hand tighter. "I should have told you as soon as I knew."

Luke smiled and gave me a peck on the lips. "I love you, Lorelai Gilmore."

I grinned. "I love you, Luke Danes."

_I love you so, I always will_

_And though devotion rules my heart I take no bows_

I collapsed onto the sofa next to the dozing Luke. We had been moving all of Luke's stuff all night. I glanced at the clock on the mantle: 2:07 am. I sighed and leaned my head on Luke's shoulder.

"You've officially moved in, Luke," I said, surveying the boxes littering the foyer and the living room. "There's no going back now."

"Good," Luke said sleepily. "I don't want to go back."

"Let's go to bed."

We climbed up the steps, hand in hand, laughing while falling over each other.

I grabbed an old flannel shirt from the back of my closet and threw it on. It seemed like an appropriate night to wear it. My eyes moved to the jewelry box where the ring was hidden. _You put it on and there's no going back. You'll give your heart to Luke, and he can do whatever he likes with it. _I gulped and walked over to the vanity. I slowly opened the box and stared at the ring that Luke had so painstakingly found. _I trust him with my heart, _I thought as I slipped on the ring.

"How tired are you?" Luke asked as I got into bed with him.

"Why?" I asked vacantly, admiring the ring on my finger.

"I thought maybe we could skip the whole date part and get right to the good stuff. I've missed you," he admitted awkwardly.

I smiled as I lightly kissed him. "You know how much I love dessert."

_But Bill you're never gonna take those wedding vows_

_Oh, come on Bill_

I'm sleeping next to Luke, I have a beautiful ring on my finger, and I'm finally getting married. Could life get any better? I watched Luke's chest rise and fall, and I started humming a familiar tune in the tempo.

"Come on and marry me Biiiill," I sang underneath my breath.

"Lorelai," Luke said sleepily, touching my shoulder lightly.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed. "You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you were asleep."

"You don't have to write a song to get me to marry you, Lorelai," he said, holding my hand and playing with the ring. "I'm no Bill."

_Oh, come on Bill_

_Come on and marry me Bill_

_I got the wedding bell blues_

_Please marry me Bill_

_I got the wedding bell blues_

_Marry me Bill_


End file.
